[Closed] 24 Hour solo plans

Unless you feel you're a contender for a top placing or you need the reassurance of having parted with money for any advice to follow I'd just go with the following:

-Ride lots

-Ride through the night and don't go to bed afterwards once a month

-Make sure your bike is absolutely perfect before the race

-Take lots of food and make sure it's not so bland tasting that you lose the enthusiasm for eating it when you should

-Take some mates to kick your sorry arse back out on the course when you feel like jacking it all in at stupid o'clock in the morning

You could give Dan a try here [url= http://mountaingoat.bike/ ]Mountain Goat[/url] he's a seasoned 24hr MTB racer and coach. Top chap too.

http://www.jessicadouglas.com/blog/my-best-24hr-ever-how-the-race-was-won

Take all sorts of food as you won't fancy some of your usual stuff at some point.

In addition to the above.

Start slower than you think, your first aim is to finish and it's not a sprint. You need to be able to maintain a pace but it does depend on what the course is like.

You need a food strategy but at the very least:

[list]
[*]Eat before you think you need to[/*]
[*]Eat a little and often[/*]
[*]As time progresses in the race your taste buds will change.[/*]
[*]Avoid drier foods later on, they become hard to get down[/*]
[/list]

Get everything, bike, clothing, food, etc. sorted well before the race the you know what works for *you*. If energy drinks/bars are provided then try them out yourself as not everyone gets along with every make.

take a caffeine gel about every three hours or so..
and read all above
tis good advice

Lynda's plans are good. If you're not sure how to train to make the whole thing a more enjoyable and comfortable experience, then it's money well spent.
At the very least it'll remove a lot of the uncertainty and the "have I done enough?" questions as the event draws near.
"ride lots" tells you nowt. Worth noting that it's possible to ride too much as well.

Ride through the night and don't go to bed afterwards once a month

That's one way of taking the fun out of it and quite unnecessary.

I wonder sometimes how much of a split it is doing long endurance events between mental and physical. When you're training you never do a full 24 hour solo ride or multi day ride or whatever as it's mostly broken down into smaller chunks.

Having only done one 24hr solo (this years Mayhem) so not overly qualified to comment; I think rather a lot of it is down to your mental capacity to just block the things out of your brain that want to make you stop and then carry on regardless and just keep plodding away, it worked for me that way anyway. If you let thoughts of bad things get in the way it ain't gonna work

@dunmail has it sorted for advice,

also, dont think you need to ride lots you dont,
quality over quantity will avoid overtraining and injury

marathon runners dont run marathons every day,

have a hills day
have a sprint day
and have endurance weekends - get yourself to a fitness/speed/duration you can cope with of riding 3-4 hours a day back to back over a weekend and not feeling like your wasted, and EAT ON THOSE RIDES - this not only helps with energy and recovery but also what you can cope with while riding, stomach issues can kill your ride.

forget having to ride thorugh the night, but DO get night riding experience,
you can cope with race night riding through if you got caffeine tabs just once without any issues.

i found I prefer to eat moderately GI food little and often - and have an endorphine boost of eating whatever you fancy every few hours (i.e. mine is choco croissants and/or honey sandwiches, sugar puffs, or if cold ride, weetbix + brown sugar + hot milk)

best thing is, enjoy it, there is a great sense of finishing , regardless of time or place, that will come with experience and training.

good luck

i've seen one of here plans a while ago when someone i know bought one - i was impressed: it had a good level of detail.

each ride had a suggested duration - intensity and a goal.
there was a good level of progression/ build/ rest etc through the season.

The one thing that seemed at odds, with how i ride at least, was the weekly plan had no repetition - ie it wouldn't fit with riding thursday/ sunday, gym monday etc. But that's easy to swap up.

Read up about audax events training. Should be a fair bit about this year as people will be trying to qualify and get a place on Paris-Brest-Paris. 1400km in 4 days.

Wonder if Channel 4 have blagged an entry for Guy Martin and Terrahawk? 😉

I wonder sometimes how much of a split it is doing long endurance events between mental and physical.

Mostly mental assuming basic physical ability is there, more so the longer it is I expect.
For perspective / disclaimer etc I've never raced a solo 24, I read these threads for tips more than anything. I've ridden for 20-24hrs or more a few times with no more than very brief food stops and having had no 24hr race or solo prep beforehand I'd say it's mainly mental and knowing yourself. The pit crew and details will help you perform better relative to others but pacing over 24hrs is ok if you can ride 8-12hrs unsupported and think as you go.

it's mostly broken down into smaller chunks.

yes, with a mind on how they change and relate to each other as they add up.

I think rather a lot of it is down to your mental capacity to just block the things out of your brain that want to make you stop and then carry on regardless and just keep plodding away, it worked for me that way anyway. If you let thoughts of bad things get in the way it ain't gonna work

Spot on.

Thanks all, sort of had all the above advice from a few others ive spoken to about this. And was just looking at some structure to the next six months, for my first solo so want to be on it after the crimbo feasting.